Railway-signal.



No. 663,990. Patented Dec. I8, I900.

J WRIGLEY RAILWAY SIGNAL.

Appl at on fil d June 80 1900 (No Model.)

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WRIGLEY, OF ELMIRA, NEW YORK.

RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 663,990, dated December18, 1900.

Application filed June 30, 1900. serial No. 22,132. \No model.)

as will enable others skilled in the art to' which it appertains to makeand use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, andto letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to semaphore apparatus employed in railroadsignaling; and it has reference particularly to that class of suchapparatus in which revolving lamps are employed for night signaling.

The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the kindreferred to with simple and durable means whereby the lamp thereof maybe operated with facility and positively.

I have fully illustrated my invention inlthe accompanying drawings,wherein- Figure l is a view in front elevation of my improved semaphoreapparatus. Fig. 2 is a side view, in side elevation, of a portion of theoperating mechanism for the lamp somewhat enlarged. Fig. 3 is a top planView of substantially what is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a verticalsectional view, still further enlarged, of the lower portion of themechanism shown in Fig. 2; and Figs. 5 and 6 are a top plan view and asectional view of a detail of the invention. a in the accompanyingdrawings designates the mast or pole upon which the semaphore apparatusis mounted. b, c, and d designate three brackets, which are suitablysecured to said mast.

e designates a balance-lever which is fulcrumed upon the bracket 0. Thislever is adapted to be controlled by wires or other flexible connectionsextending to the operating-tower, and it is balanced by an adjustableweight f.

Upon the bracket 1) is fulcrumed a lever g, which carries thesignaling-paddle h and also an adjustable counterbalance-weight t.

In the armj of the bracket (1 is journaled a Vertical shaft is, saidshaft carrying at its upper end a seat or rest Z for the lamp m of theapparatus. Upon this shaft is secured by a pin 71. an elongated segment0, having a curved slot 19, the extremities q of which are straight,extending longitudinally thereof. The lower end of this segment hasbearings upon the lower arm j of the bracket d, and therefore supportsthe shaft 10. Figs. 5 and 6 show this segment in elevation andtransverse section. In order to prevent freezing water from collectingin the bearing for the shaft in the upper arm j, I provide a collar 4",having a recess 8 in its under side, being adjustably secured upon theshaft and acting as a hood for said bearing, said recess receiving aboss 13 upon the upper face of the arm. The slotted segment constitutesa cam which is controlled bya slide-rod to, which is adapted toreciprocate verticai'ly in projections 12 of the arms j, being providedwith a stud w, upon which is mounted an antifriction-roller 0a, whichworks in the slot 19.

y designates a rod which is pivotally connected at its ends to thelevers g and a, respectively, and z designates another rod, which isconnected at its ends to the slide-bar and said lever a, respectively.Should the rod y have a greater range of movement than the rod 2, aswill doubtless usually be the case, the latter may be provided with aslot a at either of its ends, receiving the pivoting-pin at this point,as shown in Fig. 1. However, if desired, the lower end of the rod 2 maybe turned OE and connected to the rod y, as shown at a in the samefigure, in which case it will not be necessary to provide thecompensating slot a.

In operation when the lever e is thrown from one to the other of itslimits of movement a corresponding movement will be imparted to thelever g carrying the paddle, while the slide-rod 11, will be movedlongitudinally in its bearings, the antifriction-roller which it carriesworking in the cam-slot 10 and so turning the segment 0, andconsequently the shaft 76 carrying the lamp. The movement of the lever ein the other direction will of course effect a reverse movement of theseparts. Should the lamp in any way become disconnected with the lever ewhile itis held at safety, the slide-rod will be actuated by gravity todrop and so throw the lamp to the danger position, and of course shouldthe rod z be directly connected to the rod y the paddle It may also bemade to be controllable in like exigency by the sliderod, so as to bethrown to the danger position.

It has been remarked that the extremities q of the slot 1) are straight.The object of this is to afford compensation for the difference in timewhich it takes the paddle to assume its limit of movement and the timewhich it takes the lamp to assume its limit of movement and resultingfrom the form of connection between them and their operating means, thelamp being arranged to move more quickly than the paddle. Moreover, saidstraight extremities of the slot act, as will be obvious, to prevent thelamp from being turned, whether accidentally or other wise, exceptthrough the medium of the sliderod n, having the projection engagingsaid slot 1). The importance of providing this compensating and lockingmedium will be manifest to those familiar with this art.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a suitable support, of a rotary lamp-carryingdevice and a suitably guided slide rod operatively arranged on saidsupport and the one having a cam-slot, and the other a projectionengaging said slot, actuating mechanism, and a paddle-carryingleverfulcrumed on said support, said slide-rod and the other beingoperatively connected to said actuating mechanism, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination, with a suitable support, of a rotary lamp-carryingdevice operatively arranged on said support and having a camslot, asuitably-guided slide-rod having a projection engaging said slot, apaddle-carrying lever fulcrumed on said support, and actuatingmechanism, said lever and the sliderod being operatively connected tosaid actuating mechanism, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a suitable support, of a bracket sustained onsaid support and having laterally projecting arms disposed the one abovethe other, a rotary lamp-carrying device and a slide-rod arranged insaid arms and the one having a cam-slot and the other a projectionengaging said cam-slot, and actuating mechanism also arranged on saidsupport, said slide-rod being operatively connected to said actuatingmechanism, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a suitable support, of a bracket sustained onsaid support, a segment and a slide-rod arranged in said bracket and theone having a cam-slot and the otheraprojection engaging said cam-slot,said segment being sustained by the bracket, a shaft for the segmentjournaled in said bracket, said shaft constituting the lampsupport, andmeans for actuating said sliderod, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a suitable support, of a bracket sustained onsaid support, a segment sustained by said bracket and having a cam-slot,a shaft for the segment journaled in said bracket, said shaftconstituting the lamp-support, a slide-rod guided in said bracket andhaving a projection engaging said slot, and means for actuating saidsliderod, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this22d day of June, 1900.

JOHN WRIGLEY. \Vitnesses:

JOHN W. STEWARD, ALFRED GARTNER.

